Separate Together
by eepps96
Summary: Valentine's Day fic that has nothing to do with Valentine's day Hinata and Naruto get separated from the others and have to find their way back, but what else will they find along the way?


**If I wrote most of this on Valentine's Day, it still counts as a Valentine's Day fic, yeah? Yeah.**

…..

They were separated.

Well, they weren't separated from each other, but from everyone else. Everyone else who was on this mission with them, both his teammates and hers. Neither one of them knew if the rest were still in a group, by themselves, or anything.

Right now it was just Naruto and Hinata.

And of course the rain, truly the cherry on top of their situation.

Was it her fault they were in this situation? No way. She just happened to be the unlucky person who occupied the tree the gang went for first. It wasn't like she knew, it could have been any of them. That wasn't her fault.

Now, was it his own fault that the both of them were stuck together?

Was it his fault that something just came over him to save her, watching her get thrown from her position on the limb as the tree seemed to just uproot itself? Was it his fault that when he grabbed her, the force of how fast her body was moving made him lose control of his own? Was it his fault they bashed into a separate tree, both of them falling down into the ravine that rolled underneath the high trees? Then it carried them away for who knows how long with the water being so rapid?

Maybe.

Maybe if he hadn't just instinctively jumped to her side she would still be in this same situation. Maybe it would have been a worse one, or a better one. But even then she would still be alone.

He didn't want that.

He thought about her a lot recently. It had just been a few months since Pain's attack on the village, since she risked her life for him, confessed her love for him. He had yet to have a full conversation with her since then. Was he scared to? Yeah. What was he going to tell her? He didn't know. Was there even a proper way to respond to someone after they did all that for you? Well…

He just thought about her a lot.

He knew the answer he wanted to give her, he owed her one. He had told Sakura what happened, even asked Iruka-Sensei what he was supposed to do. It wasn't the easiest conversation to have with Sakura, but he was grateful for the advice Iruka had given him.

Doesn't mean it was the easiest for him to tell her- Hinata.

"Uhm… I'm fine to go on my own." Hinata finally spoke.

He has been carrying her on his back for a while now, noting the stream of blood that came from a gash on her leg. While she had many others along her body, the only one that looked worse was the one on her forehead. She had washed the blood off in the river before they started moving, but it was still prominently behind her bangs.

He didn't even ask her if she was okay to walk, he just grabbed her. He made sure to go from limb to limb carefully, making sure not to push off of them with as much force as he could muster, he didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

After stopping on one of the branches, he turned his head back towards her.

"Are you sure?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed. "The rain is making it kind of slick."

She nodded, trying to avoid the gaze from his eyes. It was so powerful it almost hurt to stare back.

He gently let her down, stretching his back out.

She shifted her weight around on the leg, making sure that she wasn't lying. It stung a little, but she could endure it. It was nice, having him carry her. He could feel the heat from his body- his own clothes feeling completely dry despite the rain- and she could hear his breathing, feel his heartbeat. Hinata would have loved to stay like that, but she couldn't. She wasn't weak, and she didn't want to act like it. They had the rest of their team to find, a mission to complete.

It wasn't the time to let her emotions get the most of her.

They continued through the trees, trying to find something familiar that they came across earlier, but when everything was trees it all seemed to blend together. Even her byakugan couldn't see anyone else around except them. None of their teammates, no travelers to ask, no small villages to try and get information. Just one big forest.

"Nothing?" he asked, astounded that she couldn't see anything.

She shook her head.

"It's just trees. Trees for miles." She confessed, letting her eyes turn back to normal. She wiped the rain water that was dripping on her forehead from her bangs.

He let out a groan, thumping his head against the trunk of the tree in frustration. She could see the rain water dripping off his hair.

"We're never going to find them." he muttered.

Was he really upset about it though?

"Oh, sure we will." She replied, trying to be positive. "If anything, we can just meet them at the town, since we're supposed to be there for a few days." she encouraged, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Their time without the others was just more time he got to spend alone with her. He didn't know when he would get time like this again.

Naruto took his head off the trunk, ruffling his hand through his shaggy blonde hair, letting the rain water go flying. In seconds it was just as wet as before.

"I guess you're right." He admitted.

She smiled at him before they started moving again.

The town they were heading to had been getting threats from a traveling gang recently. They wanted food, shelter, entertainment even- all without lifting a finger or paying a cent. If the townspeople didn't comply the establishment they were in would get completely wrecked. Walls knocked down, floorboards stripped up, furniture tossed out into the streets. At night the gang would gather everything in the streets to the middle of town to burn it.

Not only that, but it took the town six tries to send a message out for help. The gang had laid traps at every exit and they went on for miles into the forest in every direction. Truly skilled shinobi were in this gang if the first group they sent didn't find any and returned with injuries before even getting into the town.

Hinata used her byakugan every few miles, trying to find either the rest of their teammates, find any sort of traps, or trying to find the town itself.

Her eyes were growing tired, using it for so long. Her head was starting to hurt every time she activated it. She could only blame it on the gash that marked her forehead. Her limit was much longer than this.

Naruto noticed she was getting tired, her pace was slowing down. He slowed his as well to match.

She activated it again, checking the next few miles. All of it seemed clear. There were a few animals along the forest floor, some grazing, others hiding. Aside from that, nothing else to re-

Then she saw it.

It was so small, just feet in front of them. A small wire she knew that Naruto couldn't see. He was in front of her, sure to trip it first. It was right in front of them when she was just concerned what lied miles ahead. The rain wasn't helping her vision either.

"Stop!" she yelled, hoping he would react fast enough. He threw his arms out, planting firmly on the tree branch in front of him, doing his best to keep the position. He didn't know what she saw, but nothing was happening so long as he stayed like this.

The tops of his shoes were right next to it, she even swore they were touching, but nothing was happening.

"Don't… move" she told him cautiously.

He gulped.

"E-easy for you to say." He replied, darting his eyes around in front of him, trying to figure out why she had him stop. He couldn't see anything through the rain, but he also couldn't move his head to get a better view of anything.

She looked closer.

Any movement of his legs would trip the wire. Even if he could just roll back the top of his feet would surely hit it.

"Hinata… what's going on?" he decided to ask, not sure what was happening.

"There's a wire- right in front of your feet." She explained, jumping closer to him.

"How close am I to it?" he asked, feeling a bit of relief. It was just a wire after all.

"I mean, it looks like you're already touching it to me, but maybe not enough to trigger anything." She tried to reason, still thinking of how to get out of this.

Maybe she could cut the wire, and both of them just start falling onto whatever was below them? No, bad idea. What if she just cut the branch? She was pretty sure a good kick where it split from the trunk would do it. But if the movement caused him to jerk forward at all, he would definitely trigger it. Maybe she could figure out where the trap lead, and stop it from there.

"So, I'm thinking… " Naruto interrupted her own thoughts. "What if I just slowly move back, yeah? Like a little bit at a time?" he asked, wiggling out his toes.

Hinata sighed.

"Maybe? I can guide you but if it gets too risky you'll have to stop." She tells him, jumping to the closest branch she could.

"Okay… let's try that." He agrees, slowly shifting his weight on his feet.

He didn't even move an inch before both of them realized what happened. He had tripped it, just in the slightest way, but the trap didn't spring yet.

Once the wire returned to normal, then it happened.

The wire snapped back, recoiling into the trees. Then the sound was all too familiar to both of them, kunai flying through the air. He didn't have time to dodge them, there wasn't anything for him to grip onto, and gravity wasn't working with him to push off of the branch. Naruto tried to position himself better on the tree to jump away, but knew he was moving too slow. He braced himself, throwing his arms around his head for extra protection.

But then they never hit.

He felt the branch sink lower and he knew exactly what happened. He heard a cry, and yet he felt nothing, no sharp pains or stinging feeling.

He quickly moved his arms down, hoping Hinata didn't do what he thought she did. His eyes opened cautiously and his heart dropped immediately when he saw Hinata, who was pulling a kunai out of her side, breathing harshly through her teeth as she did it.

He was in shock more than he thought he would be, seeing the small pool of blood start to soak into her jacket. He didn't say anything, he didn't move. He just stared at her, wide eyed.

She turned around to face him, breathing heavy.

"You… okay?" she asked, still holding her side. It looked like another had grazed her upper thigh. The other was planted on the branch a few inches away from her, not making the distance.

Hinata knew she would be fine, it just hurt. She had been through worse, but she couldn't understand why it stung so much. She looked down at the kunai, but it looked just like any other. Was something on it?

She started feeling dizzy.

Naruto could feel his breathing start growing rapid, anger- not at her but at her pain- started boiling, but yet, he still just couldn't say anything.

And then she tripped. She had started walking towards him but just completely fell.

He caught her without a second thought, catching her by the shoulders. He picked her up carefully, not wanting to disturb her wound more. Naruto jumped down, landing among the grass and roots of the trees around him.

"I-it's okay, you're okay." He told Hinata, keeping her body close to his, like he was guarding it from the rain. She didn't respond. Her eyes were closed, her breathing heavy.

' _Was that kunai covered in something? What's going on with her?_ ' he frantically asked himself, looking for some place to put her, somewhere dry.

"You'll be fine, it's okay." He kept repeating to her as he spun in circles, saying it for her or him, he didn't know.

….

She was warm.

It was like a fire was in front of her, warming her was a relaxing, comforting feeling. It made her not want to move, afraid the feeling would go away.

But she still opened her eyes.

She was in a small cave-like area, except in the trunk of a tree. Roots were intertwined throughout, keeping the rain out. There were leaves under her and spread throughout the entire floor.

Why was she here?

Slowly she sat up, trying to get her bearings. Her arms felt weak, and her chest was heavy. She cough, trying to clear her throat, but it just caused her side to start stinging.

"H-Hinata!" she heard someone else say. It wasn't too long after that when she felt someone else's hands on her back and shoulder, helping her sit up.

It was Naruto.

She had forgotten most of what happened until she saw him, staring at her with such a concerned look, something he had never given her with such… passion.

She would be blushing if it wasn't for the pain.

"How do you feel? Are you okay?" he asked her, giving her some room to move.

She instinctively went to grab for her side, but she realized it covered. It was already wrapped in a bandage. She looked down at it, seeing the cloth through the tear in her shirt.

"Did you…?" she started.

"Try my best to stop the bleeding? Sorry if it's not very good, but it worked." He blurted out. "I did your leg too." He admitted, pointing to the cloth that was wrapped over her pant.

"That's v-very kind of you." She thanked him, watching as he sat down next to her, staring out the entrance of the little shelter they had.

"We should wait here for the rain to stop. We can't love very fast with you hurt like that." He told her, watching as she tried to sit up closer to him.

"Are you okay to move that much?" he put his hands out cautiously near here, ready to steady her if he needed to.

She gave him a pained smile.

"I'm fine."

He sighed, letting his muscles relax.

"That's a relief." He breathed out. "I even went back and grabbed one of the kunai."

She was waiting for the pain in her side to settle back down.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"You've been out for a few hours, so they might be poisoned. I want Sakura to check it out." He explained, holding the tool in his hand.

The stinging was starting to lessen

"T-that sounds smart." She commented. She really did think so, but her mind kept going back to her side. Her leg even was stinging just a bit.

He could tell that she was still in pain. Her eyebrows were arched inward, she was holding her breath, keeping her hand over the injury. He wondered if it hurt just as much as it did for him to see her like that.

"You know… you really had me scared, falling over like that." He told her, throwing the kunai into part of the rot wall across from them.

She let out her breath, feeling the pain go down finally, but she didn't get a chance to reply.

"Then you just passed out and i-I didn't know what to do. I don't anything about healing or medicine. So I just had to… hope, ya know?"

She watched as he stared down at his feet, and she could see his muscles tense.

She turned her own head to the ground, upset she made him feel that way. She didn't know why she felt like crying, but if she was in his situation she knew she would have already been.

"… I'm sorry."

She wanted to curl up in her jacket, wanted to stay there and disappear for a while. It was bad enough that they had to wait out the rain in such a small area, even worse because it was her fault.

Then she realized something.

She wasn't wearing her jacket.

It was his.

Was that why she was so warm?

"Where's my jacket?" she asked him, watching as he kept staring outside.

He pointed to something in the corner of the area, something Hinata didn't notice earlier.

"It was ah, covered, in your blood and rain water, it wasn't going to keep you warm. So I gave you mine." He explained, leaning his head back.

"Oh, I see." She replied

"Why'd you do it?" he asked her almost instantly.

She turned her head.

"Do what? Jump in front of you?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

She turned her head forward, not really sure why she did. It was a conscious decision she remembered making, her body just moved.

"I don't really know… Why did you jump after me earlier?"

He was silent for a moment, giving it some thought.

He smiled, letting out a short breath.

"I don't know."

She smiled at his response. But she soon watched that smile fade into something sterner.

"Stop risking your life for mine, ya know? I can take a hit like that, but watching you get hurt… just stop doing It." he huffed, turning his head further away from her.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, with this, with Pain, just… it hurts to see you in pain. Hurts more than I thought it could." He admitted, bringing his knees closer to his chest.

"Oh… I didn't know you felt that way." She responded quietly.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, listening to the rain fall, the leaves stir in the wind, anything else they could hear.

"I'm sorry that I worried you." Hinata apologized.

He tried to stay quiet, he tried not to say anything more. He just wanted the rain to stop and for them to be on their way and finish the mission.

But something in him just couldn't do that.

"I don't know why, but I always worry about you." He confessed, breathing out.

"What… do you mean b-"

"Since the Chunnin exams I worried. For your health I was worried when I beat Neji I was worried that you weren't there to see it, to see the promise I kept- and since then I've just kept worrying. Recently it's almost daily. And and I don't know what that means but I just keep worrying."

Why did he say all that?

"And as-as much as I love you I feel like I can't because that would just make me worry more. Worry about what would happen if people find out, that you would be a target and bad people would start coming after you and not just me and it sucks so much it hurts."

That was his answer.

He had thought it over for so long in so many different ways, but that was it. He didn't want to look at her, not knowing what answer she was looking for, if that was satisfying enough for her, if it would just hurt her more, he didn't know.

"You… love me?"

That was all she said.

He turned his head reluctantly to look at her, not expecting to see her face extremely red, eyes wide, and her hands holding onto the sides of his jacket so tight that she was completely covered by it.

It made his worry go away, if just for a few minutes.

"Well, when you constantly think about someone, worry about them, want to be near them, that you would do anything for them…. that's love, right?" he reasoned with her, dipping his head down closer to her.

It took a moment, but she slowly nodded her head. Her expression remained the same.

Should he kiss her? They were right next to each other, faces mere inches away from one another. Usually people kiss after confessing to each other, right? But how was he supposed to know, he'd never done this before. Thinking about it, she probably hadn't either. Did she even want to kiss him? Was he taking too long to do it?

Luckily she did it for him.

It was small, and on his cheek. But the warmth that radiated from the spot was nothing less than incredible. It made his own heart beat faster, his hand reach up to touch the spot on his cheek. His heart thought that keeping his hand there would prologue the warmth.

He saw Hinata gulp.

"Was that okay?" she asked, hesitant and quiet.

His mouth felt dry

"Yeah… I liked that."

Now it was his turn.

He kissed her this time, on the lips. The few seconds they stayed together were like hours. Did the rain stop while it happened? Or did he just ignore it like he was ignoring everything else in the world except for her.

As they pulled away it those hours they were kissing turned into milliseconds. It ached, pulling away, but he still felt satisfied. It was like a weight was lifted from his chest.

They stared at each other for who knows how long before Hinata finally breaks.

She laughs slightly, shaking her head. She places a hand on her forehead, swiping her hair to the side.

"What are we doing…" she says quietly.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Did she not want that? Why would she have kissed him first?

"We just started a war and here we are, stuck in the rain, confessing to each other." She explained, turning her head towards him.

"How strange is that?"

He stared at her, letting her words soak in before he cracked a smile.

"Not too strange." He answered, moving closer to her.

He sighed.

"When this is all over, when the war is done and there's no one after me anymore… we can do what people normally do when they love each other." He told her, touching his arm against hers.

She let out another small laugh, leaning her weight more on him. It was relaxing to have him next to her, truly next to her.

He leaned his head onto her own, feeling her hair against his skin. While it was still wet, it felt comforting.

Then he laughed.

"Whatever it is they do."

…

 **Why did I write this? I have no idea. I just kind of thought like "secret lovers" and then here we are.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and have a happy valentine's day!~~**


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